Since Thursday, June 30, 2022 until yesterday, Sunday, July 3, hundreds of Sudanese took to the streets to demonstrate against the military regime in charge. They demand a return of civilians to power. These protests have already resulted in nine deaths among the demonstrators.
Every week in the streets of Sudan’s major cities, several hundred demonstrators come out to express their frustration with the military regime in power. In the past four days, the protests have recorded their deadliest score since the beginning of the year: at least nine people were killed in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in the protests last Thursday, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Committee, a medical group that monitors victims of the protests. The committee said security forces shot and killed nine people, including a child, in or near Khartoum during Thursday’s rallies.
It is about the huge crowds that converged in the direction of the presidential palace, but were met with a massive deployment of security forces that locked the city center. Their slogan was: “The people want the fall of General Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane”. Ce dernier est l’auteur du dernier coup d’Etat qui a plongé en octobre 2021, le Soudan dans une violence et une crise économique sans précédent.
Thus, protest groups calling for a return to democratic rule have declared that they will organize an unlimited campaign of sit-ins and other peaceful actions in response to these deaths. The Sudanese police, in its defense, accused the protesters of violence and arson while reporting more than 200 injuries among the ranks of the security forces.
On Friday, however, in the northeastern suburbs of Khartoum, protesters erected barricades and blocked roads with burning tires. In response, the security forces fired tear gas at the hundreds of people. The same scenario was repeated on Saturday where the demonstrators do not intend to stop without having had satisfaction. “Even if we all have to die, the military will not rule us,” the crowd shouted loudly. This Sunday, the protest movement was still on a large scale, despite the repression of the last three days.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet condemned the violence and called for an “independent investigation”, saying that “the victims, survivors and their families have a right to truth, justice and reparation”.
Since October 25, 2021, Sudan has been plunged into violence, following the military putsch organized by the head of the army, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane. The violence has already resulted in a total of 114 demonstrators, all of whom were killed by the police using live ammunition. Thousands of people were also injured.